October 8, 2023, Sunday

Spelling Bee Answers for Sunday, October 08, 2023

Oct 08, 2023, Sunday Spelling Bee Answers for the V, A, T, I, B, N, R honeycomb (center letter R) feature 36 words, a 181-point total, 1 Pangram (1 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 9-letter longest word: BARBARIAN, INVARIANT.

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Spelling Bee hive for October 8, 2023 with center letter R and surrounding letters V,A,T,I,B and N

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Sunday, October 8, 2023 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.

Difficulty

2/10

Easy

16th percentile

Avg Word Length

5.58

Typical length

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

7/100

Common

Rarer than 7% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

25 minutes

Quicker than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

Typical spread

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

Yes

All 7 covered

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

words to Genius

2×9L1×8L5×7L9×6L1×5L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 127 pts

18 words2×9L1×8L5×7L9×6L1×5L

Vowel Split

40%

Balanced mix

81 vowels · 120 consonants

Score Milestones

0%Beginner0 PTS
5%Good Start9 PTS
15%Moving Up27 PTS
25%Good45 PTS
40%Solid72 PTS
50%Nice91 PTS
60%Great109 PTS
65%Amazing118 PTS
70%Genius127 PTS
100%Queen Bee181 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 36 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Sunday, October 8, 2023. The answers are organized by word length and point value, along with today's pangram. Prefer a spoiler-free approach? Try the spelling bee hints for today or browse the full list of NYT spelling bee words.

Common openings

25%

22%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2023-10-07

Today's AnswersGo to Today

Pangrams

Reveal letter by letter or uncover a full solution

The Center letter is highlighted in Yellow.

Other days with this pangram

2025-11-12(I)2024-09-03(T)

Complete Answers

Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

9 words

10 words

9 words

5 words (Pangram)

1 word

2 words

Share of 36 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

36 words

100%

35 words

97%

24 words

67%

20 words

56%

18 words

50%

12 words

33%

7 words

19%

Share of 36 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

9 pts

50 pts

54 pts

42 pts (Pangram)

8 pts

18 pts

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

925%

822%

514%

26%

13%

Share of 36 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today’s score of 181 ranks in the 43rd percentile among all puzzles.
The last time a score this low appeared was on 2023-10-07.
The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
With 36 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 31st percentile overall.
The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2023-10-03.
The highest number of answers in any puzzle is 80, on 2026-02-01.
The lowest number of answers in any puzzle is 16, on 2023-03-27.
This puzzle ranks among the Easy puzzles, based on overall difficulty scoring.
Compared to recent puzzles, today’s challenge is easier than usual.
The letter set in this puzzle is considered Medium, compared to typical puzzles.
Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2023-10-06.
The estimated solve time of 21–29 min is faster than typical puzzles.
Players can expect a steady solving experience.

Other Dictionary Words Not on This Puzzle's Official List

Wondering why these words aren't on the official list*:

abbr
abir
abirritant
abri
abrin
airan
airn
airt
antar
antara
antiair
antiar
antiarin
antitrinitarian
antra
antrin
arab
araba
araban
arabana
arabia
arabian
arabin
arain
arara
arariba
arati
arba
arbtrn
arian
ariana
arna
arnatta
arni
artaba
atar
attrib
avar
avarian
avatara
baar
bairn
bara
barabara
barabra
baraita
barani
barat
barbar
barbara
barbra
bari
baria
barr
barra
barrat
bart
bavarian
bibiri
binitarian
biri
biriani
biriba
birr
birt
bivariant
brab
brabant
brant
bravi
brian
bribri
brin
brit
britain
britannia
britannian
britt
brrr
intr
intrant
invar
iran
irani
iranian
irian
irvin
ittria
nair
naira
narr
narra
navar
navarin
navarrian
nitrian
nritta
rabanna
rabat
rabbin
rabi
rabin
raia
rana
ranarian
rann
rata
ratan
ratti
ravi
ravin
riant
riata
ribat
ribavirin
rita
riva
taar
tairn
tantarara
tara
tarai
tarairi
tarantara
tarata
taratantara
tari
tariana
tarin
tarn
tarr
tartana
tartarian
tartarin
tarvia
tatar
tatarian
tiar
tiriba
titrant
trabant
tran
trant
trav
triarian
triarii
trib
trina
trinitarian
trinitrin
triratna
trit
trivant
trivariant
vair
vanir
vara
varan
varanian
vari
varia
varna
vira
vitrain
vivaria

*Every word here uses only the hive's seven letters, includes the center letter, and appears in our dictionary, but it was never published in the NYT's official answer list.